Smith v. Miller
Smith v. Miller
Opinion of the Court
When this case was before us on the appeal taken by the defendant (43 N. Y., 171) the judgment was reversed on two grounds. One was that the plaintiffs having received the draft, and undertaken its collection, they were bound to show that they demanded payment of the drawees within due time, that payment was refused, and notice of such non-payment duly given'to the drawers; and that in the absence of such proof they could not recover against the drawers, either upon the draft or the indebtedness for which it had been given. The facts then appearing were that the plaintiffs had presented the draft for payment upon the same day upon which they received it, and that the drawees, so far from refusing payment, gave their check for the amount, which check was good at the time, and during all the business hours of the day when given. That it was deposited by the plaintiffs in bank for collection, without having first been presented for certification at the bank upon which it was drawn, and went into the clearing-house the next day, when it was rejected, the maker of the check having in the meantime stopped payment, and the bank in which they kept their account having applied their funds to a debt due by them to such bank. No further demand of payment of the draft was shown to have been made upon the drawees,
We held that in order to preserve their recourse upon the drawers of the draft the plaintiffs should, when the check was dishonored, have demanded back the draft and again presented it for payment, and, in case of refusal, given notice of such demand and refusal to the drawers, as was done, in the case of Turner v. Bank of Fox Lake (3 Keyes, 425), and Burkhalter v. Second Nat. Bank of Erie (42 N. Y., 538). There had been in fact, in the present case, no refusal by the drawees to pay the draft.
These facts were not changed on the second trial. The learned judge who dissented in the court below from the affirm, anee of the judgment rendered on the second trial, expresses the opinion that there was no necessity for protesting the draft, as the drawees, J. K. Place & Co., were insolvent, and the drawers could therefore sustain no loss.
Where the omission of demand and notice cannot possibly operate to the injury of the indorser of a note or drawer of a draft, he will not be discharged, but such injury is presumed until the plaintiff, by proof or. his side, removes all chance of damage. It has been held in some cases that if the indorser (drawer) know of the maker or acceptor’s absolute and recorded insolvency, that is enough, though. any insolvency short of that will not do; our own eases have not gone so far toward excusing want of demand. (See Com. Bank v. Hughes, 17 Wend., 98, and cases cited.) The mere insolvency of the drawee or acceptor of a draft is no excuse for neglecting to present it for payment. (Jackson v. Richards, 2 Caines, 343; Hunt v. Wadleigh, 26 Me., 271; Esdaile v. Lowerby, 11 East, 114; Edwards on Bills, 486 [marg].). There is no pretence that the drawers had not funds in the hands of the drawees. The laches of the plaintiffs in not again demanding payment of the draft when the check was returned were sufficient to discharge the liability of the defendants as drawers of the draft, and it consequently extinguished the debt for which the draft was given. (Story on Bills, § 109, and note.)
On both grounds we think the judgment should be affirmed.
All concur.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.